About

I work as a private counsellor, family counsellor and alcohol and addiction counsellor and as an independent social worker.

I can work in English (my native language) or in French.

My previous work was as a social work lecturer and, before that, a computer programmer.

Following a career in private business, mostly as a computer programmer and systems designer, I studied for a DipSW / MA in Social Work at the University of Hull, from which I qualified in 1998. I later taught on the social work course at Hull and carried out research into alcohol related issues.

I then worked as Lecturer in Applied Social Studies at the University of Durham, where I was responsible for managing a module on Children and Families, and led a module on Assessment within the Post-qualifying Childcare Award. Following the introduction of the new-style social work degree in 2003, I managed the development and implementation of a module on Human Development.

In practice I have worked as a Counsellor in an Alcohol Agency and as a Child Protection Social Worker. From 2005 to 2010 I was employed by Durham County Council in the development of the local Children’s Trust, where I had responsibility for leading a team of project managers.

In Durham, we implemented new, integrated ways of working and information sharing across multiple agencies and professions, which derived from The Children Act (2004). These projects included: the Integrated Children’s System (ICS); the Common Assessment Framework (CAF); and ContactPoint.

During this period I also served on the Department for Education’s National e-CAF Project Board, which led the development of the electronically-enabled CAF.

Between 2010 and 2017, I have worked looking after my own children, I have run a child care business and worked on short-term social work assignments across East Anglia.

On a more personal note, my first love, after my wife and children, of course, is Featherstone Rovers.

I admire the French culture and language: I believe that I speak perfect French, despite being reminded annually of the falsehood of that belief.